Display apparatus



June 2, 1953 o. D, MO'NEILL 2,640,289

DISPLAY APPARATUS Filed June 1. 1950 TEL: \18 i6 7 jarszvtua Emma: .ZLMWEIEL Patented June 2, 1953 DISPLAY APPARATUS Oxford Douglas McNeill, Forest Hill, Ontario,

Canada, assignor to Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company, Jersey City, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application June 1 1950, Serial No. 165,443 In Canada May 16, 1950 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for displaying the foaming qualities of detergent material particularly for advertising displays.

object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which capable oi continuous operation with a limited quantity of detergent and solvent liquid.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus which may readily be set up in 'a con fined space, such as a store display window and bepperated with a minimum of soilage notwithstanding the continual collapse and regeneration of a substantial quantity of foam.

Broadly, the invention consists in a tank. for containing a foam-producing liquid, and foam produced therefrom. the tank having at least one wall including a transparent panel through which the contents may beviewed, a port in the tank for withdrawing liquid therefrom, a conduit for delivering liquid. to the tank, an outlet to the conduitarranged to direct liquid downwardly within the tank, apum connected between the port and the conduit and arranged to deliver liquid under pressure to the outlet, and means ior driving the In the operation of the apparatus, foam is gen-- erated by the stream of liquid directed from the outlet into the tank and is continuously replenished as: it collapses due to drainage into the tank. The generated foam is, moreover, effectively displayed through the transparent panel of the tank, allthe walls oi which may transparent if desired, the walls of the tank being made high enough to contain the body of foam. which results from the use of apredetermined quantity of dc ter'gent and. liquid, at the pump pressure involved.

The liquid is also continuously withdrawn from and resupplied to the tank in a closed circuit so providing an equipment specially suited to a window display.

Preferably, the drainage port is located in the bottom of the tank, the conduit extending upwards within the tank from the bottom thereof for a substantial distance to a reversely bent portion directed towards the bottom.

To assist in the generation of roam, the outlet from the conduit preferably includes means for aerating liquid passing therethrough; this may conveniently take the form of a nozzle detachahly secured to the conduit, having an internal bore communicating with the conduit and a narrow passage intermediate the ends of the bore which extends completely through the wall of the nozzle and opens into the bore and slants towards the bore in the direction of flow of the liquid therethrough.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus,

Figure 2 is a front elevation,

Figure 3 is a detail of the outlet nozzle, and

Figure i is a further detail.

The display apparatus has a rectangular ease I I made, for example, of plywood in the form of a box having an open bottom and a top erased by a water-proof partition l2, for example, or water-proof plywood, which extends l oey'on'doutline of the base on all sides as shown. The partition is forms the bottomof a transparent tank of about the same depth as the base i I, the tank comprising a rectangular frame 13, for ch a-mple of '2 x 4 woos, glues and screwed to the partition H in a water-tight rnarnieig and vertical side walls Hi of transparent material which are abutted end to end and are set with their lower edges held within longitudinal chanhole in the upper sides of the frame members it. The side" walls it may be made of glass but preferably consist of A" thick Plexiglas and are se cured together by corner members it which may conveniently be made of aluminium. The joints between the walls it, corners l5 and frame it" are all water tight.

--Secured to the underside of the partition I2 is an electric motor it and a gear Water pun'ap H in driving engagement therewith through a belt IS; A drainage port it is provided centrally in the partition i2 and connects through a pipe 20 and a manual control. valve 2t" of variable opening tothe inlet of the gear pump. The outlet or-the gear pump is connected. to a pipe 22-! which passes through the partition it in a water-tight joint and terminates in a fluid tight coupling 22 A liquid delivery conduit 23 preferably of chroplated brass is connected to the coupling 22 and extends upwards within andbeyond the walls i l of the tank, the total length of the conduit 23 being approximately three times the depth of the walls- M The upper end'of the conduit 22- is bentinto a- U shape, in the down-turned endof. which a nozzle t l (shown in detail in Figure 3') is detachably secured through an external screw thread engaged with an internal thread in the end of the conduit. The nozzle 24 has a small axial bore 25, conveniently made by a No. 18 twist drilldiameter 0.1695 inchwhich is small as compared with the internal diameter of the conduit 22 and is provided with a fine passage 26 intermediate the ends of the bore '25 which extends through the wall of the nozzle and opens into the bore. Passage 26 may conveniently be made by a 3 No. 43 drill-diameter 0.0890 inch-drilled at an angle of 60 to the axis of the bore 25 and at a distance, measured along the outside of the nozzle, of about from the bottom end thereof so that the passage slants towards the bore in the direction of flow of liquid therethrough.

During the flow of liquid downwardly throng the nozzle 24, air is aspirated through the passage 26 and the liquid issuing from the nozzle is accordingly aerated.

Close to the coupling 22, the conduit 23 is provided with three narrow horizontal spray holes 21, see Figure 4, which extend radially through the conduit and are directed rearwardly of the apparatus, the holes 21 being spaced apart by approximately 60. The holes 21 may conveniently be made with a No. 43 twist drill and serve to direct a fine spray of liquid across the tank in the general direction of the drainage port 19. A U-shaped bracket 28 is mounted on the partition l2 rearwardly of the outlet port l9 and serves to support a large package 29 having a get-up simulating the commercial packages of the detergent product being advertised.

In the operation of the device, the motor I6 drives the gear pump 17 to withdraw from the tank through the outlet I9 liquid in which a detergent is dissolved and to return it to the tank through the nozzle 24. The quantity of aerated liquid issuing per unit time through the nozzle 24 is controlled by the valve 263 so that a large body of foam builds up within the tank which is displayed through the side walls [4 as indicated in outline at 30 in Figure 2. The spray holes 2'! supply a continuous liquid spray through the body of foam 3!] so effecting dynamic stabilisation of the foam at a height within the tank which may be predetermined by the setting of the valve 20'. By this means the foam 39 which is continuously drying by evaporation is continuously cut down, dissolved and returned to the circuit and any tendency for the foam to rise continuously within the tank and eventually to overflow the boundaries thereof is efiectively prevented. In place of, or in addition to, the control valve 20' which controls the inlet to the pump [1, the delivery side of the pump may be provided witha variable by-pass, as shown in chain-line in Figure 1, comprising a branch conduit 3| controlled by a manual valve 32 of variable opening.

With a tank having an internal length of 4'2 inches and an internal Width of 30 inches, it is found that a pail and a half of water and a tablespoon of household detergent, such as that commercially available under the registered trademark FAB, is eifective to provide a continuous body of foam for a substantial time. The water should, of course, be replenished from time to time' to make up for loss by evaporation.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Apparatus for displaying the foaming properties of detergent materials which comprises a tank adapted to contain a foam-producing liquid and foam produced therefrom, said tank having at least one wall including a transparent panel through which the contents may be viewed, a drainage port in the bottom of said tank for withdrawing liquid therefrom, a conduit extending into said tank through the :bottom thereof having a duct extendinglongitudinally therethrough for delivering liquid to said tank, said conduit terminating in an outlet arranged to direct liquid downwardly in said tank, a plurality of spray holes extending radially through the wall of said conduit and communicating with the duct therein, said spray holes being arranged in operative relationship within said conduit and near the bottom of the tank to spray liquid delivered thereto across said tank and through the foam contained therein to break down the foam and prevent the same from overflowing the tank, and .a power actuated pump disposed in operative relationship between said port and said conduit and arranged to deliver liquid under pressure in said outlet.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said outlet comprises a nozzle secured to said conduit, said nozzle having an internal bore communicating with the duct in said conduit and a narrow passage intermediate the ends of said bore which extends completely through the wall of the nozzle and opens into said bore, the bore of said nozzle having a diameter less than the diameter of the duct of said conduit.

3. An advertising device for exhibiting the foaming qualities of a detergent material comprising, display means simulating commercial packages of the detergent being advertised, a tank for containing a foaming liquid, said tank having at least one wall including a transparent panel through which the contents may be viewed, a drainage port in said tank for withdrawing liquid therefrom, a conduit having a duct extending longitudinally therethrough for delivering liquid to said tank, said conduit extending upwardly within said tank from the bottom thereof for a substantial distance to a reversely bent portion terminating in an outlet adapted to direct liquid downwardly within said tank, said outlet including means for aerating liquid passing therethrough, said conduit having a plurality of spray holes extending radially through the wall thereof and communicating with the duct therein, said spray holes being arranged in operative relationship within said conduit near the bottom of the tank to spray liquid delivered thereto across said tank and through the foam contained therein to break down the foam and prevent the same from overflowing the tank, and a power actuated pump disposed in operative relationship between said port and said conduit and arranged to deliver liquid under pressure to said outlet.

OXFORD DOUGLAS MCNEILL.-

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,041,149 Nichols Oct. 15, 1912 1,064,873 Thowless June 1'7, 1913 2,134,890 Redon Nov. 1, 1938 

